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Mitsubishi and Tohoku to drill diagonally beneath a National Park in Japan

Mitsubishi and Tohoku to drill diagonally beneath a National Park in Japan Towada-Hachimantai National Park, Kazuno, Akita Prefecture, Japan (source: flickr/ One Man Walking, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 14 Jun 2011

Mitsubishi Materials Corp. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. are planning to employ diagonal drilling technology to reach a geothermal source below a national park for electric power generation at the Sumikawa geothermal plant in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture.

Reported last week in Japan, “Mitsubishi Materials Corp. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. are planning to employ diagonal digging technology to reach a geothermal energy source just below a national park for electric power generation, it has emerged.

Roughly 80 percent of geothermal energy sources in Japan are believed to be situated below natural parks including those designated as national parks, but development of such parks had been rigidly restricted since 1972.

In June 2010, however, the government relaxed the regulations to allow the development of such parks on condition that the work did not spoil the landscape in a bid to promote the effective use of recyclable energy. If put into practice, it will be the first project in Japan in which diagonal digging technology will be used for thermal power generation.

Under their plan, Mitsubishi Materials will begin digging the ground where the Tohoku Electric Power’s Sumikawa Thermal Power Plant stands, 500 meters away from the Towada-Hachimantai National Park, in July.

It will dig the ground diagonally to reach a geothermal power source about 2.4 kilometers below the national park, allowing Sumikawa plant to begin using the geothermal energy below the park as a new source for its power generation by the end of this year.

The geothermal energy below the park can produce enough steam to generate 5,000 kilowatts of electric power.

The Sumikawa Geothermal Electric Power Plant, situated in Kazuno, Akita Prefecture, is now capable of generating about 35,000 kilowatts, currently using only a geothermal power source just below it.

The Environment Ministry is expected to approve the project after deeming that sufficient measures will be implemented to protect the landscape of the national park.

Japan is ranked third in the world for the amount of geothermal energy sources it holds, following Indonesia and the United States. The country is estimated to have enough of such power sources to generate 20 million kilowatts — equal to the capacities of 20 nuclear reactors, according to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.

However, only 540,000 kilowatts worth of geothermal power sources are currently being used because geothermal power generation costs far more money than nuclear or ordinary thermal power generation.

If geothermal power sources below natural parks across the country are fully utilized, it will help reduce costs through the expansion of the scale of geothermal power generation.”

Source: The Mainichi Daily News